Data Centers

A single hyperscale data center can use more than 365 million gallons of water a year, equivalent to what 12,000 Americans use in that time. The Great Lakes region is simply not prepared to manage the competing and overlapping demands that may soon lead to more conflict over water resources.

Testimony

April 23, 2026

Testimony in Support of POWER Act to Protect Illinois Water Resources from Data Center Impacts

Large data centers are being proposed and built across the Great Lakes region, including Illinois. Without comprehensive protective planning, pollution prevention, and water use reporting, they could irreversibly drain huge […]

Press Release

March 10, 2026

New Great Lakes Data Center Playbook Gives Residents Tools to Ask the Right Questions to Reduce Impacts and Protect Water

CHICAGO, IL (March 10, 2026) – Today the Alliance for the Great Lakes released a Regional Playbook for Managing Data Center Impacts in the Great Lakes. The guide is designed […]

Blog

March 10, 2026

Data Center Playbook

Water-intensive data center development is rapidly growing across the Great Lakes region. To help make sense of the impacts, we released this guide for residents, concerned citizens, grassroots organizations, and […]

Action Alert

January 8, 2026

Tell Ohio EPA: New data center wastewater permit puts our waters at risk

Large data centers are springing up across Ohio. They can use huge amounts of freshwater – and may expel huge amounts of wastewater. The wastewater can be hot and contaminated with pollutants.  The […]

Webinar

September 9, 2025

Webinar: Preparing the Great Lakes Region for Large Water Users

Large water-using sectors like data centers, agriculture, and critical minerals mining are growing rapidly in the Great Lakes region. States aren’t prepared for these new demands on our water, leading […]

Press Release

August 20, 2025

Great Lakes Region Unprepared for Increasing Water Use Demands

CHICAGO, IL (August 20, 2025) – The Great Lakes region faces the prospect of water shortages, groundwater conflicts, and contaminated aquifers as demand sharply increases from large water users such […]

Blog

March 5, 2025

Data Centers Are Increasing in the Great Lakes at What Cost?

A question looms for the Great Lakes: with our water protected from diversion to far-flung locales, are we equally ready for an influx of big new water users here at […]